On Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 10:03 PM, robert yawe <robertyawe@yahoo.co.uk>wrote:
Hi All,
Yet another nail in the Konza coffin with the imminent departure of Craft Silicon to Singapore as a result of the finance bill which gave tax incentives to imported software and no corresponding incentives for local developers.
http://www.nation.co.ke/Tech/ICT+firms+shun+Kenya/-/1017288/1483212/-/1sy894...
At this rate Nokia will relocate Virtual City to Denmark or Singapore if we continue to allow our laws to favour foreign firms at the expense of developing local capacity. This development pours cold water on the recent establishment of a research lab by IBM as those who acquire the skills will not be able to be competitive locally.
More disappointing is a statement by Huawei Kenya representative, Wind Li, that such incentives to foreign software developers will challenge locals to be more creative yet we all know that China shutdown it borders to foreign participation for over 50 years which resulted in their current positive growth.
He added insult to injury by saying that removal of trade barriers is always good for a country's business development, this statement sounds a lot like what the western governments kept preaching to us during the height of the structural adjustment program.
Regards
PS. China is now making it clear that they are here as the 3rd wave of colonizers of Africa.
Robert Yawe
Two things stand out from my shallow reasoning on this, based on the fact that I do not have the figures/reasons to support myself: 1. Minister Githae is not being advised properly. I should blame the ICT Board (Paul Kukubo) for this, unless he says his organization's mandate does not include promoting local developers. 2. There may be just a handful software development houses in KE, a number which is seen as insignificant. I don't see why same tax incentives were not extended to local software developers. Maybe M$ pushed for this and arm-twisted the govt?? Decisions aren't made in a vacuum, so there must be a hand to blame for this misnomer. -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I can't hear you -- I'm using the scrambler.